Mombasa County Senator Mohammed Faki and Nyali Mp Mohammed Ali have differed with the county governor Hassan Joho on his approach on the issue of mass testing for coronavirus in the county.
Yesterday, a furious Joho threatened to lock down residents of Old Town after they failed to show up for the exercise. Old town is one of the hardest hit areas in Mombasa county.
Joho accused the residents of also ignoring other guidelines set by the government through ministry of health including social distancing, avoiding places of worship (mosques) and staying at home.
https://ommydalla.co.ke/people/item/1514-joho-breathes-fire-over-old-town
On his part Senator Mohammed Faki called on the county government to first address the issue of stigmatisation before subjecting the residents to mandatory mass testing.
''Before we subject the people to the testing we should deal with the problem of Stigma associated with the disease. There is alot of Stigma and many people would rather not take the test than Volunteer and allow your family to suffer'' said Faki.
Adding ''As matter stand now, immediately you test positive you will have to be isolated and your family quarantined and all your contacts are supposed to be quarantined. The cost involved is also prohibitive considering the hard economic times courtesy of the Pandemic''.
In a statement Faki challenged the county government to come up with a counseling program to assure the residents that the virus is not a death sentence.
''So we need to relook the issue of Mass Testing so that we can be able to get as many people to go out and be tested as possible. We need first to have a Counselling Program before you take the test. The Counselling will assure the person that being infected with Corona is not a death Sentence and 98% of the people of get infected and develop symptoms of the disease get cured'' he charged.
The statement further reads ''The Counselling should assure that if there is any quarantine or isolation it could be done at your own home to avoid unnecessary costs or at a Quarantine facility but costs will be borne by the County Government. Finally the test is safe because there is alot of information out there saying that some of the testing kits are not safe''
Nyali Mp Mohammed Ali has also come out to differ with the county chief on the issue calling on him to stop forcing the residents on mass testing
'' We are politicians and when it comes to the health of our people we need to put politics aside, let's leave the issue to professionals. Let's stop threatening the people with this issue mass testing, it is a good idea but we should not force the people'' said Ali.
Ali explained that a number of residents in the county had shunned the exercise because they were threatened that if they turned out positive, they would have to foot their own bills.
"People fear to partake in the test because they will be told to foot the bills once they test positive. Who do you think will turn up for the test if they have to foot the bill on their own?" he posed.
Last night, the department of health announced that has struck an agreement with the Kenya Medical Training College at Port Reitz and Mombasa Campus to release 38 people who were quarantined at the institutions.
According to the county health executive Health Hazel Koitaba, this is in line with the County’s resolve to come to the rescue of those who are unable to pay the quarantine fees of 2,000 shillings per day to the institutions.
Twenty were due for discharge today at Port Reitz and 18 at Mombasa Campus.
